Random stuff I find interesting and you may not.
Cash-strapped Americans are panic-searching “pawn shop near me.” The search trend spiked to a record high at the start of July and is an ominous sign the consumer might be pawning items or selling things that were possibly bought during the Covid boom to raise quick money amid the worst inflation storm in a generation. … Read more
Give it up, guys. Only Donald Trump can prevail against Joe Biden. Why? In 2016, when Trump won the White House, he obtained just 46.1 percent of the vote. Had his opponent not been so historically unpopular — and had the Green Party not siphoned off votes from the Democrats in a handful of key … Read more
But perhaps, finally, we have found an answer to the persistent question: What does it take, in Anno Domini 2023, to embarrass a Republican? I had thought it was impossible to embarrass a contemporary Republican. Donald Trump called Sen. Ted Cruz’s wife ugly and suggested that his father was a particularly vicious criminal, but Sen. … Read more
Do you know what Joe Biden has in common with Kevin McCarthy? They both were elected. That means what it means—nothing more, to be sure, but nothing less, either. President Biden says he will not negotiate with congressional Republicans over a bill to increase the debt ceiling. This is preposterous and indefensible, for several reasons: … Read more
We do not live in a just world. Sometimes crime pays. The book of Job shows us that the righteous sometimes suffer for their righteousness. American politics, in particular, seems to reward the worst among us. The 2016 presidential election pitted Hillary Clinton — famous for her thirst for power, self-dealing, and disdain for anyone … Read more
While the eyes of the nation are on San Francisco’s proposal to pay every black person $5 million in reparations for an estimated total cost of $175 billion, Motor City won’t be left behind. Last year, 80% of Detroit voters in a 78% black city cast their ballots in support of a reparations commission. That … Read more
Washington, DC, needs an emergency supply of snazzy sandwich boards announcing, “Will Legislate for Food.” A hunger crisis on Capitol Hill gave congressional leaders no choice but to trample the Constitution. Thanks to a backroom deal, House members can now claim automatic reimbursement of $258 a night for lodging expenses and $79 a day for … Read more
The upcoming ruling by the US Supreme Court on racial preferences is certain to ignite yet another divisive debate about whether or not a person’s ethnic heritage should determine their treatment by the state and major institutions. After steady progress towards “race-blind” governance, the notion of equal treatment is disappearing in a frenzy of ethnic … Read more
The high school graduation rate in Washington, D.C., is climbing. However, student school performance seems to be falling dramatically. While more and more seniors graduate high school, test scores are down and absenteeism is up. According to a recent report from the D.C. Policy Center, graduation rates at D.C. public schools and public charter schools … Read more
Less than a week after the Washington Post published a laughable survey purporting to show an overwhelming majority of people who “transition” away from their biological sex are filled with satisfaction, a transgender person showed just how exuberant her own transition process was by shooting up a Christian grade school. Tragic doesn’t begin to cover … Read more
First-year Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) embarrassed Attorney General Merrick Garland and exposed intentional dereliction of duty by Justice Department officials telling federal marshals not to arrest people illegally demonstrating at the homes of Supreme Court justices. This should be treated as a real scandal, and an explosive one. At a March 28 appropriations subcommittee meeting, … Read more
Welcome to the Middle Ages. Have you ever stopped and asked yourself: How, in the year 2023, did humans begin to debate propositions like “Can men become women?” How can a society that invents vaccines and sends vehicles to other planets start to doubt the sexual dimorphism of humanity? Or begin to wonder whether our … Read more
As federal spending continues to rise, accumulated federal debt will soon reach all‐time highs relative to the size of the economy. Federal debt held by the public will hit 107 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2028, surpassing the previous peak after World War II. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) often highlights the rising … Read more
Democrats’ war on hidden fees glosses over their own role in nickel-and-diming residents. Democrats are still trying to get political traction for President Joe Biden’s remarkable claim that among the gravest threats facing America — gasoline, police, Marjorie Taylor Greene — is the specter of hidden fees in commercial transactions. But the president’s message doesn’t … Read more
This week, the University of Pittsburgh was under fire from State Rep. La’Tasha D. Mayes, who objected to conservative speakers, including competitive swimmer Riley Gaines, Daily Wire commentator Michael Knowles, and Daily Wire podcast host Cabot Phillips. Mayes’ objections reflect the growing anti-free speech movement, and its rationale of “speech-as-harm” that is sweeping the nation. … Read more
There are a lot of different ways to react to the rumors that former President Donald Trump is about to be indicted. Because we have a 24/7 media and endless content, every single possible reaction will be expressed these days, and there is room for all of them. Commentators can and should remark on the … Read more
I recently wrote how public educators and unions were methodically killing public education. The best example this week comes from New York where a school board committee has solved the dismal math and reading scores for children in the system . . . they lowered the standards. This is not the first system to gut … Read more
Last week the Senate Democrat majority was hospitalized with Senator John Fetterman dispatched to a psych ward and Senator Dianne Feinstein, who doesn’t seem to know where she is, hospitalized for shingles. Fetterman and Feinstein didn’t let being hospitalized slow them down and went right on co-sponsoring bills even though the former had to be … Read more
The US Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect program is busily repeating the mistakes of a century ago, for precisely the same politically motivated reasons. The 2022 Infrastructure and Investment and Jobs Act allocates $47.5 billion to fund broadband internet connectivity to the hinterland. The ReConnect program assures us that “e-connectivity for all rural Americans is a … Read more
The good news is that there are fewer teenage drivers on the road these days. The bad news is that the culture that has given us fewer teenage drivers is a disordered culture of screen addiction, safety obsession, and helicopter parenting. Parents everywhere wonder why their high schoolers or college freshmen have no interest in … Read more
The abortion drug Mifepristone (Mifeprex) entered the U.S. market in 2000. For the past two decades, the drug’s official labeling stated some permutation of the following: Mifeprex…Administration must be under the supervision of a qualified physician –and– Mifeprex may be administered only in a clinic, medical office, or hospital, by or under the supervision of … Read more
How do we educate our students for freedom? After all, many of them arrive in college today believing that the United States is systematically oppressive, hopelessly unjust, and that there is not much worth celebrating or defending about our country (or so they have been taught). So I often start my class by asking them … Read more
Parents are not enough to protect kids from the harms of social media today. And current federal law is not up to the task either. The severity of the problem of social media to children and the inability of parents to effectively protect their kids necessitate a public policy solution. And as a new report … Read more
There is in psychiatry something called the “Goldwater rule,” which holds that it is unethical for a psychiatrist to offer a psychiatric evaluation of a person he has not examined and received authorization to speak publicly about. I am not a psychiatrist, but, in the spirit of the rule: I am happy—proud, even—that Joe Biden … Read more
People can never be made incorruptible. We can, however, design governmental systems filled with checks and balances that limit the temptations. Whenever some astounding corruption scandal explodes onto the front pages, the public is aghast and policymakers cobble together new reforms that promise to keep such outrages from occurring again. Occasionally, prosecutors (who are sometimes … Read more